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Sunday, December 11, 2011

My new culinary hero, Emeril Lagasse

I have been searching for a specific soup recipe off and on for over 15 years. While I lived in Portugal I had the most amazing soups...those people have perfected the art of soup. Even your average housewife knows the secret to an amazing pot of soup. While I was staying in northern Portugal I once watched one such housewife prepare a delightfully savory butternut squash soup. Over the years I have searched for a similar recipe only to be disappointed again and again with "sweet" squash soups. Yuck. Finally, I noticed that Emeril Lagasse has several Portuguese-inspired recipes on his website. I did a quick search but came up with nothing. So I emailed him...or his staff. Recommended that they get their hands on such a recipe and publish it. Less than one hour later I had a recipe in my email inbox from his webmaster or assistant with the exact recipe I was looking for. Do you realize how huge that is? How quick was that response time and then to top it off they really did have the recipe I wanted???!?!!! In the first place, I didn't expect a response at all.

I am planning to try out the recipe this week and see how close it really gets and I will get back to this blog with a review. Hopefully. If I am not in heaven then. ;)

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Mud Room Ideas

I need to re-do our laundry/mud room for our growing family. I've been looking for some good ideas for inspiration and wanted to share what I've found:


I love that you can close the doors on this, but you don't have the doors in the walkway.

I found a long list of great ideas at the link below. Click through to enjoy larger pictures, or enjoy the thumbnails from my Pinterest board below that.
  http://www.beneathmyheart.net/2010/11/mudlaundry-room-inspirational-pictures/


Monday, March 7, 2011

Monday, February 28, 2011

Rock the Shot Giveaway

For the photographers. Who love light...and giveaways.

This giveaway is worth over $1000 in merchandise and gift cards for two lucky winners, but the list of to-do's is pretty big. Which is understandable. After all, it's a launch party and they want to get the word out. And for a gift package that big, you're gonna have to work a little.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Dormancy

"A poppy seed can lie dormant for fifty years before it blooms."


Winter is a difficult time for me. During a normal year I struggle with mild depression from time to time, but winter kind of just packs it all in a little tighter...less ups, longer downs. Sometimes it can be a real drag. I really cherish the sunny days that come along to break up a long, overcast streak. On those days, I am usually a new person full of smiles and good cheer. Winter is not necessarily a time of death or of desolation, but it is a time of dormancy, and also one of preparation. For example, the dead-looking plants in my yard seem to be long gone, but they are just biding their time waiting for the right conditions to show their beauty in a riot of color, smells and sounds.

That in mind, I will tell myself on these dead, boring, difficult days that I am a seed. I am treasuring up the beauty inside of me.

Perhaps this spring I will plant the southwest corner of my yard with a mix of perennials and poppies to remind me that sometimes it takes time for beauty to emerge. Maybe the poppy seeds I sow this spring will wait to bloom in years to come.

Picks for a Poppy Garden (in no particular order):

1. Drought Tolerant Wildflower Mix from High Country Gardens.com.
This mix includes a mix of 16 species of annuals and perennials. Included in the mix are California Poppy, Blanket Flower, Desert Bluebell, Scarlet Gilia, Blue Flax, Penstemon, Coreopsis, Gayfeather and other long blooming species.




2. Himalayan Blue Satin Poppy From Seedman.com. Absolutely Gorgeous!




3. Dwarf California Poppy also from Seedman.com. These look great for a natural feel in the garden.
  

4. Crimson Feathers from One Stop Poppy Shoppe.
This one is so unusual and such a lovely shade of pink.







5. Papaver Somniferum Album. From One Stop Poppy Shoppe. Beautiful. Simple. White.